Education Commons^™

The Relationship Between Instructional Leadership Practices And Leadership Self-Efficacy Of School Leaders, Carter B. Akins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With educational reform focused on school accountability, principals must attend to tasks that lead to school improvement. Identifying such tasks as instructional leadership practices and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of instructional leadership practices through leadership self-efficacy may contribute to school improvement. Thus, the purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate instructional leadership practices and the degree to which these practices predict the leadership self-efficacy of school leaders. Participants in the survey were 100 principals and assistant principals of public schools in the southeastern United States, spanning 18 school districts, and 180 schools. Findings indicated instructional leadership practices of …

Cybernetics, Cyborgs, And Bionics, Oh My!!: Counterstories Of The Intersection Of Disability + Technology And Its Impact On Identities Of Adults With Disabilities, Ellen M. Hotchkiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation inquiry, I explore the counternarratives of adults with disabilities relating to their identities and how their identities intersect and change with regards to technology and assistive technology. Theoretically building upon critical disability studies (Goodley, 2017; Davis, 2013, 2017; Erevelles, 2011) and posthumanism (Haraway, 1985/2016; Snaza & Weaver, 2015; Weaver, 2010) and methodologically drawing upon counternarrative or counterstories (Bamberg & Andrews, 2004; Carmona & Luschen, 2014; Delgado, 1989; Glenn, 2012; He & Phillion, 2008; He & Ross, 2012; Sandoval & Davis, 2008; Smith, 2006; Solazano & Yosso, 2002; Tuck, 2009), I explore the stories of seven participants with …

Actor-Network Theory And Animal Therapy: Uncovering The Relational Ecology Of The Exceptional Student Classroom, Kristin A. Blanton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Expanding upon the research on ecology in curriculum studies and companion animals, this mixed methods case study aimed to explore how the incorporation of a nonhuman entity impacted the relational ecology of the exceptional student classroom. Utilizing actor-network theory as a theoretical guideline, the goal of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how the introduction of a therapy dog as a student affected the relational ecology of the classroom by analyzing the dynamic networks of relationships formed between the students and the therapy dog. Relational ecology acted as a conceptual framework within the field of curriculum studies …

Examining The Effects Of Energy Drinks On Academic Performance, Alyssa P. Roberson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reports of energy drink (ED) consumption have grown among the United States population. Research suggests reasons for consumption vary across populations, including increased attention and enhanced endurance performance. However, ED consumers could suffer from negative effects of ED, including health problems, caffeine overdose, and death. Energy drink consumption is also linked to substance use. Despite risks of consuming ED, heavy use of EDs remains among college students, often to help with academic performance; however, research has not examined effects of ED consumption on perceived and actual academic performance. This study evaluated relationships among ED consumption, self-efficacy, and academic performance in …

Humanity In The Black: Applying Counter-Racist Logic With Comedy And Hip Hop, Marion Pugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Humanity in the Black explores the theoretical framework of Counter-Racist Logic created by Neely Fuller Jr. as a defense mechanism for humans politically classified as black. The purpose of this dissertation is to display how Counter-Racist Logic can eliminate the cancerous confusion caused by the social construct of race. Humans who have been assigned to the racial category of black will be able to courageously acknowledge the social construct of race, acknowledge the effects of identifying with a description of a race, and how to use logic to counter the religious white superiority belief system (Fuller, 2016). The method used …

Exploring Alumni Valuation Of An Undergraduate Leadership Program, John D. Egan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored alumni’ valuation of an undergraduate leadership program by gaining an understanding of what leadership learning and leadership behaviors transferred into their work environments. The alumni graduated from the same university in the southeastern United States, and while enrolled completed a four-year, co-curricular leadership program. In this mixed methods study, eight participant alumni engaged in semi-structured interviews as well as completed the Leadership Practices Inventory. Alumni perceived that leadership experiences, learning community, classroom learning, peer coaching, and intentional reflection were the most valuable attributes of the program. The leadership learning that effectively transferred to work environments included collaboration, …

A Fiction Of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum Of Unwanted Roads Traveled, Katherine Wyatt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an inquiry centered on lived ‘otherness’ in different social experiences. Fiction and illustrations are both creative outlets that provide opportunities of curriculum growth by offering the viewer realistic portrayals dealing with truth and factors that make us fundamentally human. “Fiction elicits an interpretation of the world by being itself a worldlike object for interpretation” (Dillard, 1988, p. 155). This study uses fiction and illustrations as vehicles of communication to provide an awareness regarding social issues in everyday lived experiences, exposing the reader to the social, cultural and historical realities persistently impeding the shared constructs of human experiences. Structuring …

Poetically Composed, Educationally Imposed: Exploring Imagination And Poetics In Curriculum—A Memoir, Whitney J. Presnal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through the use of memoir, my work centers on how poetry is situated within public education curriculum. I explore the curricular context of poetry through the lenses of my lived experiences in early childhood, as a K-12 student, and as an early career classroom teacher. My dissertation draws upon a wide array of literature, honing in on the poetic perspectives of philosophers (Aristotle, 1996; Heidegger, 1947 & 1971/2013; Plato, 1955/2007), poets (Hall, 2003; Eliot, 1920 & 2009), and curriculum theorists (Leggo, 1997 & 2018; Pinar, 1994; Sameshima, 2007). The foundation of my work is drawn from my own circular experiences, …

Elementary School Leaders' Practices To Provide Equitable Discipline: Disproportionality On The Rise, Beverly L. Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study was conducted to explore practices Elementary School Leaders report using to address discipline. The study target population was school administrators in the Northeast Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA). The participants were principals and assistant principals located within 13 school districts and are comprised of 64 elementary schools. In order to gain a deeper understanding of practices reportedly used, the research asked the following questions:

1. What practices do Elementary School Leaders report are most effective in providing equitable application of discipline across the student population?
2. What practices do Elementary School Leaders report are used most frequently to provide …

Emotional Intelligence Instruction For Millennials In Undergraduate Education, Jason M. Pollett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the improvement, if any, of emotional intelligence scores of students who participated in and completed the specified professional development seminar. In addition, this study aimed to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence subscales of students enrolled in a professional development seminar that focuses on enhancing the emotional intelligence. The research design for this study was an ex post facto, quasi-experimental correlational quantitative research design. Data from the 371 students who enrolled in the Professional Development Seminar course during academic years 2015-2017 served as the sample for this study.

This study focused on …

Predictors Of Community College Students’ Academic Success In The Corequisite Model, Damon Andrews

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine predictors of community college student academic success in the corequisite model. Academic success was defined dichotomously on a pass or fail basis. The population in this study included 1,933 students that enrolled in at least one corequisite English and/or mathematics course at the college between the fall semester of 2015 and summer semester of 2018. The predictors examined were a student’s sex, race, age at time of enrollment, Pell grant recipient status, first-generation college student status, high school GPA, placement test scores, academic major, time spent receiving academic tutoring in college’s …

Letters From A Gifted Educator In Georgia, Heather Holley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a collection of letters from me as I explored the significance of the current standardized curriculum milieu on gifted learners’ educative opportunities in a public elementary school. The inquiry drew information of gifted learners’ characteristics and educative, affective, and social needs from the works of Gagné (Gagné, 1985, 2000, 2005), Renzulli and Renzulli & Reis (Reis & Renzulli, 1997, 2010; Renzulli, 1986, 2012; Renzulli & Reis, 1997). I also drew from Gallagher (2000, 2003, 2004, 205, 2015) and Sapon-Shevin (1996, 2003) for information on the political implications of gifted education. The study employed currere(Pinar & Grumet, …

Qualitative Content Analysis Of Policy As An Expression Of Educational Theory On Special Education Preschool Placement Options, Jennifer M. Dineen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized a qualitative content analysis approach where the researcher collected policies and theories to analyze and interpret and to examine the relationship between developmental theories and Georgia preschool policies as they relate to inclusion using archived state policies found on the Georgia Department of Education and Department of Early Learning website. The theories of Vygotsky (1978), Piaget (1936), and Bronfenbrenner (1979) were examined, along with the public policies on Georgia preschool. These policies included Georgia Early Learning Development Standards, Bright from the Start operating guidelines, and Work Sampling System. The researcher found common themes and/or phrases in the …

Future World(S): A Critique Of Disney's Epcot And Creating A Futuristic Curriculum, Alan Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation inquiry, I explore the need for utopian based curriculum which was inspired by Walt Disney’s EPCOT Center. Theoretically building upon such works as utopianism (Bregman, 2017, e.g., Claeys 2011;) and Disney studies (Garlen and Sandlin, 2016; Fjellman, I q work that combines historiography and speculative essays. The work explores how schools must do the hard work of working toward building a better future (Chomsky and Foucault, 1971).

Through tracing the evolution of EPCOT as an idea for a community that would “always be in the state of becoming” to EPCOT Center as an inspirational theme park, this …

The Multicultural Center's Role In Black Male Success At A Predominantly White Institution, Stephan Tramaine Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many scholarly works have focused on the problems that Black males face in higher education at predominantly White institutions (PWI). However, few have explored specific factors that lead to the success of Black males. This study focuses on the Multicultural Center’s role in Black male success a PWI. There are a myriad of issues that Black men face when pursuing higher education ranging from a lack of financial resources to “invisibility” in the collegial environment. These challenges are further exacerbated for Black men who are enrolled at a PWI. The Multicultural Center (MC) is among the essential modalities that can …

Exploring The Narratives Of Black Male Nurses In Southeast Georgia: Implications For The Implementation Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In Nursing Curriculum, Celine M. Pfund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation inquiry explores the narratives of two Black male nurses in southeast Georgia. The framework for my research includes a variety of different theoretical components including works from both major nursing and curriculum studies scholars. The nursing workforce remains homogenized despite major recruiting. The intention of my research was to explore the experiences of Black male nurses to identify challenges, barriers, and systems of oppression that they may have encountered working in a profession dominated by White females in order to facilitate development of culturally responsive pedagogy in nursing. Methodologically, I mainly drew upon James Spradley’s work on …

Stakeholder Attitudes Toward Student Drug Testing, John Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes toward mandatory student drug testing from various school stakeholder groups in a Small Rural Southeast Georgia School District. This study employed a quantitative methodological research design along with descriptive analyses of two research questions for the sixth through twelfth grade population of students, parents, and school personnel. Survey data from the middle and high school stakeholder groups were received during the fall of 2019 and analyzed to determine the overall attitude toward the use of student drug testing as well as the differences that existed among various stakeholder groups.

This …

In-Between Epistemic Paradigms Of Disablement: A Reflective Journey, Daniel James Mcnair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The author explores feelings of in-betweenness, hybridity, and dislocation (Aoki, 2005; Bhabha, 2007/1994; Saïd, 1994) as he contemplates the meaningfulness of a liminal placement between two epistemic worlds—that of his more recent experiences as a curriculum studies scholar and his previous training as a postpositivist practitioner of school psychology. This self-study engages pedagogical possibilities of in-between spaces (Aoki, 2005; He & Ross, 2012; Baszile, 2006) to construct a lived curriculum that challenges traditional stereotypes of autism and postsecondary disability services. To guide this critical self-reflective inquiry, the author applies the concepts of Joseph Schwab’s (1973) curriculum commonplaces along with William …

Cultivating A Pedagogy Of Empathy: Teaching Science Fiction In A Changing Biotechnological World, Kathy L. Avery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

CULTIVATING A PEDAGOGY OF EMPATHY: Teaching Science Fiction in a Changing Biotechnological World

By

KATHY L. AVERY

(Under the Direction of John Weaver)

Abstract

I argue that science fiction affords us the ability to think past our anthropocentrism, opening up a space for us to consider our relationship to burgeoning biotechnologies and the other. I provide critical interpretations of science fiction film and literature, which I believe stimulate the power of the narrative imagination to envision the “netherworld experience of the other”. I believe science fiction provides a site of speculation, a means to better understand and consider the role …